Sunday, January 17, 2010

There are a couple lines in this that made me cringe a little bit. ("If you can catch me than i didn't do my job..." ) Overall, this looks like it's worth a watch and it's already in my queue for play in the store.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Yea, so I (Rick) will be on the airwaves for the first time in a long time tonight. For those that don't know I'm a long time volunteer at a few community stations (stints at WFCS, WNHU and for the longest time at WESU). I've done a variety of radio shows rooted in my love of free-form radio over the years.

Tonight, the show I've put together will be a dubstep tutorial. Yes. I'll be going through the time-line from the roots of this new genre (barely 10 years old - of course, the roots go much deeper - I'll just be touching on the deeper end). So, if you enjoy dubstep or if you know nothing about it this should be a good fun listen whether you know the whole bit or none at all.

11PM-1AM WESU broadasts at 88.1FM from Middletown, CT. You can listen online as well at:WESUFM.ORG

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Our friend Tobey put his top 20 together with some write ups. Check it out here: TOBONICLE There are some great albums mentioned in this list (and this is only half of it so far) that have gone generally unnoticed by the masses for sure (Cable!).

While I'm here I'll tell you about a couple shows coming up: Dino Jr. with Kurt Vile on Friday at Daniel St. in Milford (21+) and on Saturday Cable is playing with Black Pyramid (Meteor City Records / Boston) at Cafe 9 in New Haven. Boo ya! Get out of your house.

And don't forget about the hot sauce we sell. I already ate/drank a full bottle of it myself.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Josh and Rick were kind enough to ask me to contribute to the blog, so I thought the first thing I would do is follow up Ricks best of 2009 with my own best of 2009. Metal fans, gaze upon my treasures...

1. Porcupine Tree - The Incident

It was a tough decision as to what to make the #1 of 09, because this and #2 and #3 were basically neck in neck (in neck?) all year for me. PTree wins out because I listened to it more and song for song I like it more. Having the chance to hear this album back in June far before it came out and then to revisit it upon release was really great. It was overwhelming to listen to at that time and I was also semi-nervous because Steven Wilson was in attendance. Anyway: the music. This album was such a shock to me, in a good way, the structure of it was very very different from any previous Porcupine Tree record and is definitely meant to be listened to as a whole. The first disc is a really great mix of the newer and heavier Porcupine Tree and a return to the really mellow kind of stuff at points (Kneel and Disconnect comes to mind which is also a favorite of mine on the record). Time Flies also really just hits me in a hard place. The 2nd disc i'd describe as more "conventional" Porcupine Tree. The kind fans will be used to anyway, I don't mean that in a negative way but it isn't nearly as experimental as the first disc. Anyway, there's not much more I can say about this other than to get it. Fantastic record.

2. Hatred Surge - Deconstruct

Unbelievably violent and great record. I never really thought a powerviolence album could be this high on my top 10, but this record is a monster. Perfect length, perfect intensity, and when I had the luck to see them live this past year, it was just as much of a sledgehammer to the face as the record is.

3. Mastodon - Crack the Skye

I'm really shocked that this hasn't seen more #1 in magazines, but what the fuck do they know anyway? This is the album Blood Mountain should have been. In fact, i'd like to forget Blood Mountain even exists because all of Mastodon's other records rule so supremely. The fact that a band who writes 10 minute songs can be on a major label is something I honestly thought i'd never see in my lifetime. Killer record and again, one everyone into heavier music should own.

4. Portal - Swarth

Most. Bizarre. Band. EVER. And I love it. You have to listen to this with headphones to appreciate it fully, but what a great record. I think the best way to describe this would be if H.P Lovecraft had made music instead of writing and took boatloads of LSD. So so so pumped to see them at MDF.

5. Cobalt - Gin

"Burn me down - shoot me in the chest" arguably my favorite line from any album this year. Great record and I wish these guys would play live someday, though I know how hard that is when someone in the band is active military

6. Immortal - All Shall Fall

To be perfectly honest, I was surprised at how good this was. I wasn't expecting much and it turned out about 10 times better than I thought it would be. A true return for one of the great original black metal bands. Are you listening, Emperor?

7. Converge - Axe to Fall

Brutal record.

8. Baroness - Blue Record

Really good album, i'm sure a lot of you are probably kinda "meh" on it, but it's a really good album to kind of chill out to, despite its heaviness

9. Asphyx - Death...the brutal way

Can't get enough of Van Drunen or really slow chugging death metal.

10. Nile - Those Whom the Gods Detest

I had kind of given up on Nile, but this album kicks ass. Unbelivable drumming, interesting and well researched lyrics/themes throughout. Say what you want about it being repetitive but if you want some good music on a day where you feel like punching God in the face, this is probably it.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Best of 2009 (Rick)One major thing to keep in mind is that if something doesn't come out on LP/Record/Vinyl/Wax/Plastic/... then there's a good chance I didn't give it a full shot. There are also cases of things I just haven't fully heard yet for one reason or another (Basement Jaxx, Sunn, others... and yea, they are notable). My only claim with this list is that these are the albums (full albums, mind you) that I've most enjoyed from the past year. Were I to mention all the singles and EPs that I've enjoyed to an equal degree the list would be considerably longer. I'm not going into that though. Enjoy this list. On another day it might find a different order with different content.

1. Fever Ray "Fever Ray"This is almost cliche, but I think this is the best album of the year. I didn't think it would be upon initial listen, but I came back to this one time and time again. Melancholy.

2. Cloaks "Versus Grain"I don't remember what led me to listen to this - some blog post somewhere. I had ignored their first 12" on Werk Discs back in 2007 (2008 stateside). I then wrote a love letter via my own blog post this year upon finally giving them a shot (a couple months after their full length actually dropped). To see my full thoughts: HPSU "Dear Cloaks"

3. Iron Age "Sleeping Eye"4. Hatred Surge "Deconstruct"#3 & 4 share members so I'm writing this up together. Iron Age takes pieces from a bunch of different psychedelic biker bad ass influences as well as some death metal and hardcore. Nothing is new (ever anywhere) so why not just take parts of things you love and mush them together. Of course, that could be a recipe for disaster. Here it works brilliantly. As for Hatred Surge - short, fast and sweet. It's like when you want to do a really good belly flop and you do. It hurts and rules.

5. Cathode Terror Secretion "Spectre Of History's Design"6. Halflings "Self-Esteem"These guys are from the same area and released records at the same time on the same label (RRR). It's noise. It's power electronics. It's brutal and it's a cathartic wash of full body massage (change the settings by adjusting the volume - preferably all the way up).

7. Bill Callahan "Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle"Here's another album I wouldn't have expected to be on this list upon initial listen. Bill Callahan used to record as Smog. This is his third album under his own name. It is his best under his own name by far. If'n you like Mark Kozelek like I do you will enjoy this'n.

8. Kryptic Minds "One Of Us"Here's the second album on my list that would fall into the dubstep category. As opposed to Cloaks though this one is very much the definition of dubstep. These fellas have put out the best examples of by the books (not by the numbers) dubstep this year. It avoids cliches and doesn't come off as being made purely for dance floor fodder. This is worthy listening music (not just atmosphere). It's a bit dark and minimal. Solid.

9. Royksopp "Junior"What's funny about this album is that at one point this is what I would've hoped the Fever Ray album would sound like (having just heard that Karen of the Knife was producing a solo effort). I wanted the dancey part of the Knife. Of course, Fever Ray is atop this list. Royksopp is right here. Karen is actually on a couple tracks here too (along with a cast of other guests). Royksopp has been around for a solid ten years (formed 1998, first album in 2001). They produce left of center dance music. This effort is exactly that. It's happy and fun and seemingly the antithesis of most of my list so it really needs to be on here.

10. Estrogen Highs "Tell It to Them"Local New Haven based boys playing trashy rock that I enjoy. If you like rock and roll you should check it out.

11. V/A "Hyperdub 5"Hyperdub is a dubstep label that's been going on for 5 years now. This double disc set (on CD - a few 12"s with key tracks were also released) full of it's history and great new tracks. Joker, Zomby, King Midas Sound, many others. Top notch!